


Some Games I Made Up

by orphan_account



Category: due South
Genre: First Time, M/M, Post-Call of the Wild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-24
Updated: 2012-06-24
Packaged: 2017-11-08 10:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/442044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ray thinks about games he likes to play, and how most of them are more fun with two people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some Games I Made Up

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Failsafe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8840) by [sprat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sprat/pseuds/sprat). 



> I just...don't know. I was re-reading "Failsafe" by Sprat, and in that story, there's a reference to Kowalski playing "What the Hell Is That Smell" and I wondered if it was a solitaire round. Context made it clear it was, and I thought, "Oh, of course it is, he's divorced and he only plays solitaire now." Then I thought, "That is a very sad thought to be having! Have this goofy, happy thought instead!" And this is that goofy, happy thought.
> 
> Also, might I suggest you read (or re-read) Sprat's story? It's really good. And its only relationship to this story is inspirational; that is to say, this is not a re-mix or sequel or anything that bears even a vague resemblance to "Failsafe."

Years ago, I was playing a solitaire game of What’s that Noise from Next Door? when it hit me: all my games were going to be solitaire from then on out. Stella was gone, and solitaire wasn’t just for when she wasn’t around anymore. Well, it was, but since she wasn’t ever gonna be around again ever, it was also now the only game in town.

So I also had to get used to solitaire Why Don’t They Just Divorce Already? and solitaire What’s the Deal with Dinner Tonight, Anyway? and solitaire You Wanna? If you’d asked me before, I’d’a said that any game of You Wanna? in which all parties played the “yes” card was a winning hand. Except it turns out that solitaire You Wanna? is depressing, at first because you already know you’re gonna play the “yes” card and where’s the fun in knowing the outcome before you even start. Then sometimes you play the “no” card on yourself, and that’s even more depressing.

I went undercover pretending to be another cop in a different district in my same city (Chicago, for those of you playing along at home) and didn’t even get a partner. Not officially. My unofficial partner turned up a week or so after I started playing the game, and while I didn’t get to play Cops and Robbers with him all the time, when I did we were pretty good at it. And sometimes he’d come over and we’d play What’s that Noise from Next Door? which was a lot of fun on account of my new unofficial sometimes partner has got primo hearing and we could go directly to Why Don’t They Just Divorce Already? which was also a lot of fun on account of my new unofficial sometimes partner is a real optimist.

After a year or so of playing Cops and Robbers, my unofficial sometimes partner and I ended up in his homeland of Canada, where we decided to play Looking for the Hand of Franklin. We were pretty sure we weren’t gonna find the hand of Franklin (lots of other people had tried) and it’s a dangerous game, but also a lot of fun. A lot more fun than Why Don’t They Just Divorce Already? but not as much fun as You Wanna?.

But playing Looking for the Hand of Franklin, even with my unofficial sometimes partner (and official fulltime best friend) also got lonely sometimes, and not just on account of not having anybody around to provide the material for Why Don’t They Just Divorce Already?. Made me wonder if maybe my friend might want to play another game.

See, he and I usually understood each other good, and sometimes we didn’t, so I wasn’t really sure what would happen if I tried to play You Wanna? with him. And, like I said, not knowing is part of what makes You Wanna? such a good game (although if someone plays the “never, ever” card instead of the “not right now” or "yes" cards, you can end up feeling pretty lousy about the whole game for awhile). But I wasn’t even sure he’d understand the game.

On the other hand, he picked up on What’s that Noise from Next Door? and Why Don’t They Just Divorce Already? real fast. And Cops and Robbers he already knew and didn’t have any trouble dealing me in. Or letting me deal him in. Whatever.

So one night when we were sitting by the campfire, I said, “You wanna?” and he said, “Oh, God, Ray, I thought you’d never ask,” and then proved he knew the game by kissing me for a very long time. Until I finally said, “Why didn’t you ask?” and he said a bunch of stuff about ethics and that on account of I was depending on him not getting me killed while we played Looking for the Hand of Franklin if he asked me first I might feel “undue pressure” and think I had to play the “yes” card even if I really wanted to play the “not right now” card or even the “never, ever” card. I just snickered and told him I had plenty of “undue pressure” and that’s why I was playing You Wanna? and very grateful indeed that he was playing both the “yes, right now” and the “yes, in general” cards.

I guess he was gonna wait until we were done playing Looking for the Hand of Franklin and then play You Wanna? except I started playing before he got the chance. And now we play Cops and Robbers eleven months out of the year, and Looking for the Hand of Franklin one month out of the year, and You Wanna? at least five times a week, and we each play the “yes” card often enough that it makes the game worthwhile and I’m pretty sure the neighbors aren’t playing Why Don’t They Just Divorce Already? about us. Although I'm also pretty sure we've given them enough material for What's that Noise from Next Door? to make up for it.


End file.
